COLUMBUS — Gov. John Kasich will try to lobby state representatives this week to restore his education reform proposal revised and passed this week by the Senate.

Kasich blasted senators Tuesday for changes made to the third-grade reading guarantee, which would hold back third-graders who don’t pass the state reading test.

In a statement, Kasich said the Senate changes “would weaken efforts to improve education for Ohio’s children” but didn’t say which changes he disagreed with.

Reports circulated the Statehouse Tuesday and Wednesday that the Senate changes delayed the guarantee one year, but a comparison of the two bills show the changes actually keep Kasich’s timeline intact.

A provision in the original bill said the guarantee became effective in 2012-13, but students weren’t required to be retained unless they had received two or more years of reading intervention.

Next school year would be the first year of the program and 2013-14 would be the second, so students scoring below the bar on the state reading test would not have to be retained until after the 2013-14 school year.

When presented with this information, Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols told the Dayton Daily News the governor didn’t have a problem with the dates but instead disagrees with a retention exemption for students who don’t pass the state reading test.

The exemption allows principals to determine a student’s reading skills through a “portfolio,” or collection of work demonstrating they’ve accomplished tasks similar to what’s asked on the state test.

“We think this weakens the language we gave them,” Nichols said. “We think it is a back door that allows principals to push kids who can’t read along to the next level.”

Florida, on which Ohio’s plan is modeled, has a similar exemption.

Fewer than 1 percent were promoted through portfolio work in the first year of Florida’s law and about 2 percent of third-graders were promoted through portfolio work in 2010-11, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis of Florida Department of Education data.

A Florida legislative study found students promoted with portfolios weren’t as likely to pass the fourth-grade reading test — 60 percent of portfolio students scored above the lowest level on the fourth-grade test compared to 75 percent of students who were promoted by the third-grade reading test.

Republican Sen. Peggy Lehner of Kettering, who led the bill’s revisions as Senate Education Committee chairwoman, told the Dayton Daily News she also questioned the exemption but said one test should not be the only deciding factor for promotion.

“We want to make sure the only kids we’re not allowing to go on to third grade are kids who really can’t read and aren’t poor test takers or having had a stomachache that day,” Lehner said.

Lehner said Kasich’s strong opposition surprised her because the bill keeps much of his proposed reforms intact — diagnostic reading tests for students in kindergarten through third grades, parent notification and retention of third-graders who don’t pass state reading tests.

“I think rather than complain, we should celebrate the fact we got a 30-2 bipartisan vote on one of the governor’s key policy changes,” Lehner said.

Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, backed the changes, saying the improved bill incorporates suggestions from educators who will actually be doing the work. The rewrite ensures students have at least two years of extra help before being held back, which Florida educators said led to the greatest achievement gains.

The bill also removes the mandated “intense remediation” during the summer mentioned in Kasich’s version and gives examples of interventions such as tutoring, small group instruction and extending the school day or year.

The Senate lowered the bar students have to meet on the reading test to move on to fourth grade, from scoring in the “proficient” range to scoring in the “basic” range or above — the same as Florida.

Only 15 points separated a basic reader from a proficient reader on the spring 2011 test, according to Ohio Department of Education data. A student in the lowest range — retained under both plans — would have had to score 147 points higher to score basic.

Lehner said she still has reservations about setting the retention level at “limited,” the lowest of five performance levels. Kasich’s plan would retain the bottom two levels, which would have meant 13 percent of third-graders last year.

Ohio is transitioning to tougher, national Common Core standards with tests based on these standards expected in 2014-15. The Ohio Department of Education estimated 65 percent of last year’s third-graders would score in the bottom two ranges — retained in Kasich’s original proposal — on those tougher tests.

The biggest change made, Lehner said, delays the new letter grade report card for one year and directs a committee to suggest how school performance should be measured.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or jborchardt@daytondailynews.com.